What’s the story?
As confirmed by Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Erick Rowan is scheduled to make his return to WWE TV on the upcoming SmackDown Live TV tapings in Pittsburgh, PA at the PPG Paints Arena on March 14th, 2017.
Rowan has been out of action for almost six months due to a torn rotator cuff and as reported earlier, he has been training at the Performance Center after being cleared to return a few weeks back.
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Erick Rowan has been out of action since October 2016 after he tore his rotator cuff and had to undergo surgery for its rehabilitation. During the time on the sidelines, Randy Orton joined the Wyatt Family, won the Royal Rumble and turned on Bray Wyatt to set up a WWE title match against the leader of the Buzzards. Luke Harper too branched out on a face run after he turned on his mentor.
Rowan has been posting cryptic tweets of his return and one of them even showed him roaming around with the body of what seemed to be Sister Abigail. This gave rise to rumours of the mysterious Abigail being alive despite Orton burning the Wyatt compound to the ground.
Read more: Did Randy Orton actually burn the body of Sister Abigail last night?
The heart of the matter
While PWInsider has confirmed the return of Rowan, anything is possible in the unpredictable world of the WWE. With Orton and Harper turning their backs on Bray, it makes sense for WWE to get Rowan back as a reinforcement for the currently broken ‘Face of Fear’.
Reports from Cagesideseats have stated that Luke Harper might also realign with Bray due to Orton’s audacious actions that have made this the best storyline heading into WrestleMania 33. Rowan, Harper and Wyatt are expected to go back to their roots in a bid to exact their revenge against the Viper.
What’s next?
With WrestleMania 33 just over three weeks away, WWE would look to spice up the feud by introducing Rowan next week. Bray Wyatt is in dire need of someone to stick by him and none better than his most loyal comrade in Rowan. He could come out and pull off a blindsided attack on Orton on the upcoming episode.
As for WrestleMania 33, Rowan could participate in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, that is if WWE doesn’t have anything better for the talented big men.
Sportskeeda’s take
The return of Big Red Rowan is great news for Wyatt and SmackDown’s top feud. The long-term storytelling of the Wyatt-Orton angle has been one of the perks of the brand split and adding Rowan into the mix gives it all an extra dynamic. Wyatt is also said to be turning face soon, and if WWE is really serious about it, we wouldn’t mind seeing Rowan come and attack Bray in shocking fashion.
The fans' sympathy after Bray’s house being burned down coupled with his close family members abandoning him would make a perfect turn. But with Orton going into WrestleMania as one of the hottest faces of the SmackDown roster, we feel Rowan will come back and help the WWE Champion retain the title.
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